1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a start-up method of the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus including a hibernation function is in practical use in an information processing apparatus of recent years. The hibernation function stores information stored in a main memory to a non-volatile memory device such as a hard disk before the information processing apparatus is turned off. The next time the power is turned on, the operation is restarted from the state just before the power is turned off. The implementation of the hibernation function is advantageous in that the start-up time of the information processing apparatus can be reduced when the power is turned on. However, in the hibernation function, data stored in the main memory needs to be saved in a non-volatile memory device such as a hard disk when the power is turned off, and the saved data needs to be loaded to the main memory at the next power-on. The start-up time may not be able to be reduced since the time required for loading may be longer depending on the amount of saved data. Thus, various methods have been proposed to optimize the data save/load time in the hibernation function. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-22464 discloses a method of determining whether to compress the data to be saved upon the execution of the hibernation function by evaluating whether saving after compression of the data to be saved is faster or saving without compression is faster.
The conventional information processing apparatus equipped with the hibernation function is based on an information processing apparatus including a non-volatile memory device such as a high-capacity hard disk. Therefore, the performance of the non-volatile memory device is known in advance. As a result, the save/resume time can be optimized based on saving/loading of data to and from the non-volatile memory device. However, there is an information processing apparatus that does not include a high-capacity non-volatile memory. To use the hibernation function in such an information processing apparatus, the user first needs to mount (connect) a non-volatile memory device on the information processing apparatus and use the mounted non-volatile memory device to realize the hibernation function.
However, the non-volatile memory devices may include various performances for saving data of the main memory in the non-volatile memory device that can be inserted and pulled out or for loading data from the non-volatile memory device. For example, if a non-volatile memory device with low data reading/writing speed is mounted on, the implementation of the hibernation function using the non-volatile memory device makes the start-up time at the power-on long due to the low reading speed. Therefore, depending on the performance of the non-volatile memory mounted on by the user, the start-up time after performing the hibernation may be rather longer than the normal start-up.
Non-volatile memories with various capacities exist as for the non-volatile memory device that is mounted on by the user and that can be inserted and pulled out. Therefore, the mounted non-volatile memory device may not be able to save all data stored in the main memory.
In case of the non-volatile memory device that can be inserted and pulled out, the non-volatile memory device may be removed or replaced by a different non-volatile memory device before the next start-up. In that case, the hibernation function cannot be realized.
The present invention solves the above problems of the conventional technology.
The present invention enables to start up an apparatus without causing the above conventional problems when performing hibernation using a non-volatile storage device that can be mounted.